The Pennsylvania eHealth Partnership is responsible, under Act 76 of 2016, for the creation and maintenance of Pennsylvania’s secure health information exchange, known as the PA Patient & Provider Network, or P3N. This includes certification of Health Information Organizations (HIO) connecting to the P3N “hub,” maintenance of the patient opt-out and opt-back-in registry, and administration of grant programs to facilitate connections of health care providers to HIOs. The eHealth Partnership also works within DHS and across selected state agencies to facilitate health care provider reporting to various state registries, including immunization, laboratory reporting, cancer, syndromic (disease) surveillance, and clinical quality measurement.

How does the P3N work? The P3N improves and coordinates patient care by helping health care providers find their patients’ medical records—in real time—anywhere on the P3N network. Regional networks, or HIOs, electronically connect health care providers to each other. In turn, the HIOs connect to the P3N hub to enable statewide health information exchange. Patients and providers benefit from these connections through reduced redundancy of tests, better coordination of care, improved patient safety, and lower costs.

Under Act 76, all patients whose health care providers are connected to the P3N have their medical records available for exchange across the P3N to other providers who need it. However, patients who do not want their medical information available for exchange across the network may opt out of the P3N; patients who have previously opted out may choose to opt back in at any time.